Bird flu resumes in the Upper Midwest – Food Safety News

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) has returned to the Upper Midwest of the United States with a vengeance.After a break from spring through early fall, new case reports are stacking up for commercial flocks.

The new bird flu reports include the following:

The discovery of bird flu in a commercial flock usually results in depopulation, meaning the impacted birds must all be euthanized

With the states first case since March 2023, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation on Oct. 20 for the new bird flu cases.Her action permits the state to track, monitor, detect, contain, dispose and disinfect the virus.

Iowa lost 15 million birds to bird flu in 2022 through March 2023.

The resumption of cases has agriculture officials again educating people on the HPAI warning signs. They include:

Scientists say some wild birds have developed immunity to bird flu, which is seen as an encouraging sign. Since wild birds have spread flu around the globe, immunity might lessen the spread in the future.

HPAI has infected commercial poultry, totaling more than 59 million in 47 states since 2022. In April 2022, just one person who recovered was inflected with HPAI.

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Bird flu resumes in the Upper Midwest - Food Safety News